


it's not fair

by kathleenfergie



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, F/M, Runners
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-16
Updated: 2014-06-25
Packaged: 2018-01-25 08:12:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1640744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kathleenfergie/pseuds/kathleenfergie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Why are you helping me?" The girl asked, stricken. / "Because, my dear, some days I cannot live with the monster I have become." </p><p>Centuries after Sarah agrees to marry the Goblin Queen, a special runner comes to the Labyrinth and changes the Queen's life. AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. part one

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so here's a new Labyrinth fic. It won't be a long chapter fic, probably have maybe 3-5 parts to it. Updating will take a while, as it is not my priority, I just write it whenever I get inspiration. It's another of my favourite 'if Sarah said yes to Jareth' AU because let's be real Sarah would be a) the hottest b) the most bitchin' Goblin Queen ever. The runner is my own, I like her, so I hope you do too. The title of this piece is shit but it was the only thing I could think of at first so I stuck with it. I hope you will read and let me know what you think!
> 
> I own nothing but my lovely little runner whose name you will learn soon. Enjoy.

"It's not fair." The young girl said softly, her solemn tone darkening Sarah's vision. She advanced on the wisher and towered over her, glaring down with all the intimidating power she had learned from Jareth. The girl visibly trembled at her gaze and clutched the side of her sibling's crib as the Goblin Queen stared deep into her eyes. The phrase reverberated in Sarah's mind; it's not fair.

"No, it's not, little girl. Do not presume it ever was or will be." Sarah's voice dripped of malice, her teeth bared in anger at the wisher. "Do not disrespect me with such insolent words. I have offered you a gracious gift and you have refused, which does not persuade me to treat you favourably, little girl. I would have shown you your dreams."

There was a long pause and the girl bowed her head.

"How do I know that you will not show me my nightmares?" She asked quietly, afraid of the looming monarch before her.

"Choose the labyrinth, my dear, and they will be set upon you like ravenous wolves. You will feel the very fears of your small mind sink their teeth into your soft flesh, infecting your blood, and obstructing you from any chance of victory." As Sarah described the dark aspect of Jareth's game, the girl retreated even more from the Queen, though still close enough that Sarah's long silvery gown still touched her bare feet when the wind swept it forward. The girl finally lifted her head and Sarah summoned a crystal, spinning it across her knuckle, to the awe of the young mortal. She held it out to the her, a dark smile forming on Sarah's face. "Is the baby really worth all that?" She asked, her velvet tones tinted with a sickly sweetness.

The girl stared at the Queen for several moments before responding. She was so young, barely fourteen, but Sarah could see a pained wisdom behind the adolescent's eyes. It seemed that she was deeply debating her answer.

"When my mother would tell me the stories of the goblins, she always said there would be an evil king who would steal the babes away in the middle of the night." The girl paused, looking towards the wooden floors. "Men have never been kind to me, lady, and so I understood that it would be a king to take these children; a cruel, vicious man who did not care for the child or the wisher. You're a queen; you must have an heir?" The girl asked, a bewildered Sarah drawing her outstretched arm to her side, the crystal long forgotten.

"I fail to see how this is relevant to your current situation, child," she spat, staring hard at the wisher, who brought her head up, the bright eyes meeting Sarah's own. The question was still there and Sarah pursed her lips. "I have no children. I was once mortal, and my transformation hindered my abilities. Conception is something that would be very dangerous for me, and subsequently the child. I have an heir but he is not of my own womb; my brother." Sarah answered the inquisitive girl and wandered around the room, touching the child's belongings.

As the Underground's time did not coincide with that of the Above, the Goblin King and Queen could travel to any wisher, no matter their location or era. If they wanted simply to visit the Above, they could choose whatever time period they wished to enter. Sarah often found herself visiting the ancient Greeks, disguised as an unimportant lady. Multiple realities formed within the walls of each world, and so Sarah like to explore as many as she could. It was all very interesting and it had long ago fed her childhood curiosity for such realms. There were days when she pondered traveling to see her family, but she knew that Jareth would bring Toby to the Under when he was ready to rule. Currently she was in the later part of the twentieth century, by the looks of the record player in the corner of what Sarah assumed was the mother and the baby's room. She remembered her own players from when she was a girl, the small bear in the crib reminding her of dear Lancelot. An image of her fairytale bedroom filled her mind, and a small nostalgic smile graced her lips. The girl brought Sarah out of her thoughts, the trembling voice replacing the howling wind. Sarah turned slightly; the girl had a look of disbelief and excitement on her face as she gazed up at the Goblin Queen.

"Are you the Champion?" She whispered, and Sarah whipped her whole body toward the girl, the skirt of her gown billowing around the monarch's feet, her gaze piercing. The scared wisher continued on, her fists worrying the cotton of her nightgown. "My mother only told me about you once, when I asked if anyone had ever beaten the Labyrinth. She told me of a girl that was like me, young but still strong, and able to conquer anything. You're different than I thought you'd be." The girl stilled, waiting for a callous response.

Sarah's tone softened, however, and she looked upon the small girl.

"The Underground changes you, my dear. As I said, it does not only show you your dreams, but your nightmares as well. Sometimes they are one in the same." She thought of Jareth; her husband, her King. There were times when he was both the thing she loved best and feared most, but through it all, she had remained by his side. He'd taught her so many things; magic being the most important. He'd loved her so deeply even though she constantly defied him day and night.

Jareth had grown weary of traveling to the Above to give the wisher their ultimatum, and so Sarah took on that role. Jareth oversaw the runner as soon as they entered the Labyrinth's gates, and Sarah would spend the run with the wished-away, finding them a home. Through this she made many connections with previously reluctant fey who in the beginning had detested Sarah for her mortality. In time many came to accept her as the devoted ruler she was.

The young girl waited patiently for Sarah to continue while the Goblin Queen misted around the room. The girl didn't like that the woman kept touching things, but she saw that Sarah handled them all with care. Her fear also kept her from saying anything. The strange woman flicked through emotions like her mother did with lovers.

"I wished my baby brother away to a Goblin King, who I had come to idolize through a small leather bound play. I acted out the scenes in a park near my home, and most always there would be a white barn own perched on the obelisk at the park's center. Jareth watched me reenact his tale and he came to love me. He gave me wishing powers. Before I said my right words, I was always able to get my way with those two simple words: I wish. I fought the Labyrinth for my brother and in eleven hours I conquered it. I beat Jareth without knowing that he truly loved me." Sarah paused, exhaling wistfully. She rarely chose to reflect on her own run. "I had won, and I had the Goblin King at his weakest point, holding a crystal out to me, pleading for my love. He told me that if I accepted, he would send my brother home safe. Upon touching the crystal, I saw through Jareth's eyes the days he spent watching me in the park, I heard his thoughts, and I shared his dreams. He showed me his love, and I accepted it. I married him after my transformation." She finished her tale and turned once more to the girl. "I am not heartless. While I honour my duty to the Labyrinth and to my husband, I have cared for each child that has come into my castle, and I shall not treat your sister otherwise. She will be given to a loving family, as is my occupation to deliver the wished-aways. The Labyrinth can ruin you, little girl. Is the baby worth all of that?"

"There are days when she isn't. Some days I want to tear my hair out after all the crying and screaming that comes out of her, but, yes. She is. She almost died when she was born, and my mother was barely home because she stayed in the hospital for a month afterwards. My mother did not take it well." Tears leaked from her eyes, her fists continuing to worry her gown. "I didn't mean what I said. I thought I did, but I really didn't."

"What's said is said, child." Sarah said in a commanding tone, exasperation lingering.

"I know. I know." The girl said quietly, staring blankly at the ground, having trouble making eye contact once more. She was silent for a few moments while Sarah waited impatiently for her to speak. "You were given a choice at the end of your run, after you completed the Labyrinth. Your brother went home safe, yes? And you stayed behind in the Underground?" The girl asked, and Sarah was confused.

"Yes, but I was a different circumstance. What makes you think you deserve to change the rules?"

"I'm just trying to save my sister, lady. My mother has no one - my father died when I was little." The girl told her. "What if...what if I ran the Labyrinth, and I won. You would let me take my sister back home?" Sarah nodded, still perplexed with the girl. "If I lost...could I trade myself for her? Could I stay in her place?"

These were not the questions Sarah ever thought she'd ever hear, and she stared at the girl in surprise.

"You would go in her place?" Sarah asked, her voice nothing but a whisper.

"Would you have done it for your brother?" The girl countered. Silence came as the Queen's answer. Sarah stretched her arm out again, not to conjure a crystal, but to grasp the girl's soft chin in her palm. She squirmed, but Sarah did not let go.

"My husband is leagues more cruel than I. He will show you no mercy within the Labyrinth, and you can expect no help from me." The girl nodded and closed her eyes, a tear slipping out. Sarah, too, closed her eyes, and when they opened, the two females stood on the windswept hill overlooking Sarah's kingdom. From a branch on the drooping tree, the thirteen hour clock hung. Sarah flicked her wrist and the clock began to tick. "No one is your friend within the Labyrinth. It is full of tricks and will work against you at all costs." Good luck, she did not say.

The girl, still clad in her thin nightgown, trembled in the wind and trekked forward down the hill to the gates of the Labyrinth. Sarah lost sight of her eventually, the dusty landscape clouding the Queen's vision.

Sarah lifted her hand and conjured a crystal. She whispered an incantation into the sphere and watched it glow. She did not know why she was doing so much for the girl, but once she let go of the crystal it was out of her hands. "Protect her," she said to the orb, kissing it gently. Then Sarah pulled her arm back and then forward again, hurling the glass ball toward the Labyrinth. She instantly heard the sound of goblins whispering and giggling, hidden around her. After all this time, they were wary of their Queen. "The King is not to know," she said to thin air. "That is a command, do not break it."

The sound of the crystal flying through the air mixed with the ticking of the clock, and Sarah found herself in a trance.

"Stop it, stop it! I'll say the words...no, I mustn't. I mustn't say... I wish the goblins would come take you away...right now. Toby? Toby, are you all right? Why aren't you crying?"

Strong hands wrapped around Sarah's waist, pulling her out of her clouded thoughts. She quickly recognized the scent of her husband as he nuzzled her neck.

"That took longer than expected, precious," he pointed out, kissing Sarah's exposed neck.

"The girl asked a lot of questions," she stated simply, not wishing to tell Jareth about the girl's deal just yet. "She reminded me of myself, funny enough."

"I hope that doesn't mean you've fallen for the girl and given her special powers, then, love?" Jareth asked cheekily and kissed her once more. There were days when Sarah truly believed he would ravish her on that very hill. The Queen shook her head and smiled. "Does she have a weakness?" Jareth asked his wife.

"Knowledge." Sarah murmured, staring out into the Labyrinth's vast caverns of stone. She turned to look at Jareth. "I assume the babe is in the nursery?" Sarah asked, a melancholy tone drowning her voice. The nursery had originally been meant to house the monarchs' children, but as they had not been granted any, Sarah decided it was better for the wished aways to rest there instead of the filthy, goblin infested throne room.

Jareth stroked his wife's face, noticing her change of attitude, and he looked into her cruel green eyes and internally pleaded her to speak her mind. He knew the toll barrenness had taken on Sarah and he did not dispel it.

"Sarah..." He began.

"I'm fine, Jareth. Go; play with the runner," she commanded, disappearing in a wave of iridescence.

She reappeared in what was supposed to be her own children's nursery, noticing the sound of a baby crying. She walked over to the crib where she knew the infant would be and stared down at the small child. As soon as Sarah came into the infant's line of vision, her cries quieted and she looked up at the Queen in confusion. Sarah brought a hand forward and rubbed the girl's belly, soothing her. When she touched the baby, a soft current ran between the two and she thought nothing of it. Electricity existed in its own way in the Underground.

The infant had stormy blue eyes and Sarah, touching the girl's mind, surmised that her life had been indeed full of sickness, yet happy nonetheless. Sarah's abnormal hearing abilities picked out the sound of her small, wheezing lungs. Perhaps she could get Calais, the only fey healer in the Goblin territories, to look at the little one. A longing stirred within the Queen, and she sighed. As a young girl with Toby for a brother, Sarah had pledged to never have children, but after marrying Jareth she knew that it was one of the things she desired most. She found that the wished aways were her outlet for motherhood when her own womb would not grant that to her, the very thing she was biologically made to do.

The baby cooed and Sarah picked the girl up, bouncing the small child against her chest. Again she felt a shock when she touched the infant, but decided to look into it later. Sarah could tell that the beginning of her life had taken a toll on her size as the girl was unlike other babies Sarah had come in contact with, barely making any sounds.

"Now, my love, what is your name?" She asked quietly and stroked the girl's cheek.

A small, ambient voice rang through Sarah's mind and a name was brought into the forefront.

Sarah.

The Queen gasped and looked at the girl - an infant that shared her name. It had never happened in all of the years she spent taking care of the wished aways, and Sarah found herself perplexed. Why now? Why with a runner who was so loyal to the child and willing to take its place?

What omen was this, a girl of her namesake? The baby stretched forth a hand and grasped one of Sarah's long, thick locks, tugging softly and smiling; the Queen, however, was gaping down at the child. The runner was special, she realized, and was in ways glad to have made the deal. She would change something in Sarah, although what, the Queen did not know.

* * *

 

Compared to the warm wind of the hill, the girl trembled in the dank cold seeping from the labyrinth's walls. Her thin nightgown did not help to stop the shaking, and her bare feet were already torn and bleeding from stepping on stones and twigs. After being harassed by a swarm of faeries and a sallow gardener, she had finally been able to breach the structure's doors, and was now walking between two stone walls that stretched on for miles, it seemed. There were some moments where she thought her eyes were playing tricks, showing her abnormal cracks in the wall, but she kept walking on.

She clutched onto her bare arms, trying to keep some warmth in her body, but it wasn't working that well as of yet. She was beginning to get frustrated with how long it was taking to find a turn, and she looked up into the strangely coloured sky, miscalculating a step and falling over a nestle of branches.

The girl shrieked at she fell and gasped when the pavement tore at her knees. The branches had split the side of her nightgown and she screamed in frustration.

"Well that's not the best way to deal with things, now is it, dearie?" A small, accented voice called from the girl's left. She looked up in surprise to find herself eye-to-eye with a rather large worm wearing a scarf. She was too shocked to move, and the worm chuckled. "Not the worst reaction I've seen from a runner, then."

"What, I mean who, are you?" She asked quietly, her eyes wide.

"Just a worm in the wall, as the Missus would describe. She's got a pot on if you'd like to come in for a cuppa, you do look rather cold." The worm offered jovially.

The girl opened her mouth to speak but found herself at a loss for words. She'd wished away her baby sister to the most sinister couple in all the realms and a worm was offering her a cup of tea? What fresh hell is this? she wondered.

"No, no thank you. I'd love to, but I need to get to the castle." She finally said.

"Ah, yes, you folk always do. Tell Sarah that the Missus wishes she'd come round more, if you could. It's been a couple hundred years, since the last time the Queen lost her babe and she barely makes it out of the castle except for the summons. Such a sad happenstance, isn't it?"

"Oh, okay." She paused. "I'm sorry, but could you help me for just a moment?"

"I don't know how much help I'd be, dearie, stuck in this wall all my days."

"Well, you've talked to a lot of people like me, and they've probably asked you some questions. My question is, if this is a labyrinth, why are there no twists or turns?" She asked and the worm grinned.

"Wondered when you'd figure it out." He said cryptically. "There's a turn right behind you, you just have to look hard enough." He told her, and the girl spun around, staring at what appeared to be a solid wall. She warily walked a few steps forward, her hand outstretched, the stinging sensation the stone left on her palm still prevalent.

The girl gasped as the illusion of one wall gave way to another corridor. She turned back to the worm.

"I can't begin to thank you," she paused. "But which way do I go?"

"Last I heard, dearie, was that if you turned left it takes you straight to the castle." He told her. The labyrinth had changed several times over the years, but no one had ever told him otherwise. "What's your name, then, dearie?"

"Diana." She said, thanking the strange worm and entering the second tunnel, turning left.

"Goddess of the Hunt it is, then."

The tunnel or hallway or whatever it was, did not in fact take Diana all the way to the castle. Instead, it lead her into a large, paved courtyard that seemed to be empty if only for the statues.

She assumed she was alone, but somebody behind her cleared their throat and she spun around, her tired feet complaining at the sudden movement.

The king she had been expecting in her bedroom mere hours ago now stood on the pedestal of a statue, leaning against it with a crystal in his palm.

"I think you've been the only runner to turn left in a century, my dear." He purred. It gave Diana goosebumps, but it was out of fear more than anything. "It's a pity that my labyrinth rearranges itself every couple of runs. Can't have it getting too easy, can we now?" The king jumped down from the stone figure and Diana backed away. She stared at the crystal in his hands and he smiled.

He held it out to her and she shook her head, dropping her gaze to the cobblestones.

"Pity, it was a gift from my beloved, a protection spell of sorts." He told her, a bored tone encompassing his velvet-like voice. He kept calling her by a pet name and it set Diana at an unease. "I've no idea why she'd want to help a runner, she's never done it before and she's never cared for them. From my own understanding, my dear, she /hates/ runners." Malice struck each word and Diana found herself unable to look at the man. Too often had a man stood over her for Diana to feel any sort of comfort around them. "Do you know why that is, my dear?" He asked, and she had not realized that he had stretched out a hand, taking her chin in its palm and forcing her to look into his eyes.

She found his mismatched pupils haunting. The gleam in them was similar to what she had seen in the queen's eyes as she spoke of her run.

""The Champion never forgets her ultimate success and her greatest failure," is what my mother told me, your highness." She had to keep herself from spitting Jareth's title in his face as she squirmed against his hand.

"Ah, yes, it seems you are quite right." Jareth replied, pulling her closer, much to Diana's protesting. "Hush, dear, I'm only looking at your eyes." He said cryptically. Her eyes were a pale grey colour, not quite blue but not quite white, and it intrigued the king. She reminded him of Sarah, only in the way that this girl's eyes held so many things. While Sarah's eyes were naturally cruel, the girl only seemed to keep up a facade. "She told me you had knowledge, my wife, and it seems that you do. You remind me of her."

"I wouldn't know why." Diana said bitterly and Jareth's mouth quirked. He let go of her jaw and she sprung back from him, folding her arms across her chest in a defensive way. "Are you able to tell me how much time I have left?" She asked, reaching up to rub her jaw. Jareth's gloved hand had left a tingling sensation and it sent an unwanted chill up her spine.

The king inclined his head and a thirteen hour clock appeared hanging from the hand of the statue he'd used as a leaning post, the clock hand pointing to the ten. Diana sighed in relief at the abundance of time she had.

"Thank you." She said and stood there, feeling awkward and vulnerable in front of the looming king in her torn nightgown, bare feet, and tangled hair. Diana wanted no more than to continue, but it seemed like he had more to say to her.

Jareth vanished Sarah's crystal that he had been holding and the clock disappeared with it.

"I don't know what was exchanged between you and my queen, runner, but know that no matter what Sarah has tried to do for you, this labyrinth is not your friend and it will not allow a cheater to win. I think you would find it best to keep to my rules. One could find themselves in...danger." With his ominous words, the king left Diana in a wave of iridescence, standing shocked in the courtyard.

She was unsure if that was only a word of advice or a direct threat, and Diana felt extremely rattled.

* * *

 

Sometime later, when Diana heard voices coming overtop the ivy covered walls, she was surprised and also quite fearful. It didn't take long, however, for her to find the source after a couple twists and turns.

As she found herself in an almost identical courtyard to the last, she wondered if the king simply got bored when he designed the structure, or if it was meant to confuse those that came through of traveling in circles.

Accompanying the statues was a rather strange set of doors, or at least what Diana assumed were doors, covered by two shields, red and blue. What Diana found peculiar, however, was the four pairs of legs sticking out from them. As she moved toward them, she disturbed a pebble, causing it to scatter across the stone with tiny crackling sounds.

At the noise, the legs grew heads, and four different ones popped out of the shields.

Diana jumped at the suddenness and gaped at the door guards.

When they caught sight of the runner, the guards popped back into their shields to whisper and snicker at the other.

"Excuse me," Diana called, coming towards them. At her address, the speech stopped and the door guards warily came up again.

"Gods be, boys, am I seeing clearly?" One blue guard said, and the others stared at him dumbly.

"What are you going on about, then?" A red guard said and his twin kicked him in the head. "Ow! What was that for, you tosser!"

The blue guards disappeared into their shields and whispered while the red ones squinted at Diana.

"Oi, runner, come closer." One said, and Diana raised an eyebrow quizzically but did as he asked. As she did, the blue guards emerged, both having donned a pair of round spectacles.

"Goodness, we're getting old." The first blue guard said. "I thought we'd gone back in time!" He snickered.

"He's lost it, I swear." The red guards chimed in and Diana was altogether very confused by the four beings in front of her.

"I haven't lost it, you arse! For a moment I'd thought she was the queen running the labyrinth all those years ago!" He told them, and then laughed at his own stupidity. The other three hummed and Diana cleared her throat. They chose to ignore her, continuing their conversation.

"I'm still confused about what she tried to tell us."

"Yes, well at least your door didn't send our queen into an oubliette!"

"I think she's still miffed about that, to be honest. She should really blame the hands, though."

"Excuse me!" Diana huffed and the guards stopped.

"You shouldn't interrupt, dear, it's very rude." A bespectacled blue guard told chastised her.

"Well I've been standing here for quite some time. You said you were a door, but how can I get through?" She asked and they disappeared again, the whispers beginning as Diana let out a huff of frustration.

"You have to find which one of us is a liar," they all chimed together.

"I can tell you it's not me." The blue guards added and the red guards scoffed.

"That's impossible. I don't know any of you and I don't know this realm very well, I could not tell which of you is lying." Diana said, waving her arms in a sign of exasperation.

"Well that's the trick, then isn't it!" They all said.

Diana clenched her fists.

"Can't you ask me a riddle? That seems a lot more fair." As they disappeared again Diana rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in wait.

When they finally popped back up, Diana raised her eyebrow in a silent question.

"We have a riddle for you," they chimed together. "What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three in the evening?"

Diana raised her eyebrows.

"Man. Was that the best you had?"

"Hey, that's a good one, Sophocles himself told it to me!" A red guard replied angrily.

"Well, I got it right, so you can let me through, can't you?" Diana asked, advancing towards the doors. The guards disappeared as she got closer and she groaned overtop of their whispers. Before long, the voices stopped and the door on the right swung open. "Thank you," she said, finally.

As Diana stepped through the archway, her feet fell out from under her, the ground giving way to darkness. As she plummeted, she felt things grasp at her like spider legs, but they never caught her like a web might. After what felt like an eternity of falling, she was plunged into water. Diana did not know how to swim, and she desperately flailed upward, looking for the surface again. The complete blackness gave no help as she searched for air. The water stung her eyes, and she found she could no longer hold her breath. As she exhaled, water invaded her lungs violently; her limbs felt numb and it felt as if the water was becoming thicker, her arms moving slowly as she lost control. Soon, she stopped moving altogether, and felt herself grow heavier, sinking lower and lower until she felt sharp pains on her back.

The rest was black.

* * *

 

At the sight of her drenched husband carrying the runner into the throne room, Sarah raced down the steps of the dais, skirts bunched in her hands. The babe lay safely in a bassinet beside the throne.

"What happened?" She panted, halting in front of Jareth, the girl limp in his arms. "Is she dead?" She asked, all the bravado she was known for, gone, sucked out of her voice.

"No, but her lungs are filled with water. An oubliette flooded earlier, and against my best efforts, it refuses to drain. The guards sent her through the wrong bloody door, and the hands were asleep. She sunk to the bottom before I was able to retrieve her. I've called for Calais, but he is not known for his punctuality, and as I have no skill in healing, we will just have to wait and see, my love." He shared the information gently, knowing Sarah's sensitivity toward death swallowing the young.

"If she dies, Jareth..." Sarah could not finish her sentence. No runner has ever died within these boundaries. If she dies, she will be the first...the first to change this realm since my own run.

"There's a first time for everything, love." He said, and Sarah conjured a larger cot from the nursery to put the girl on. Jareth set the girl onto it, sighing. Her nightgown had soaked through, leaving no modesty for her. A second later, Sarah was smoothing a blanket over the small girl, her hands shaking.

Jareth grasped her wrists, stilling them, and Sarah looked into his eyes, the mismatched pupils conveying his attempt at comfort. He yearned to ease her pain each time another runner lost the game, as she saw infants being carried off to a fey family, as toddlers kicked and screamed against her during each thirteen hour period. Jareth had never seen her show such attachment to a runner, but he could understand her fears toward the girl's condition.

Just as Sarah opened her mouth to speak, Calais appeared at the doors of the throne room, his robes creating a draft as he moved.

"What is the girl's condition?" He asked methodically, coming towards the pair of monarchs.

"She drowned in an oubliette, her lungs are full of water." Jareth repeated to the ancient healer, stepping away. He removed his hands from Sarah's wrists and spoke to her in the Goblin language. She shook her head and stayed close to the small girl.

"Your bride was once a mortal, I'm sure she would have known some manual ways to revive the girl." Calais snipped, pulling back the blanket and opening the girl's nightgown. Jareth looked at his wife, who had taken on a dejected demeanour after the healer's comment.

"I came here very young, sir, I had not been taught such methods."

"Pity." He quipped, extending his hands to rest on the girl's sternum.

Sarah pursed her lips at the fey, disgruntled at his likeness to Jareth, though Jareth was never that cold to her anymore; the years of Sarah's wariness and fear of the King who stole children were long gone.

"Lady, wringing your hands at her side will not help the girl's condition." Sarah nodded and retreated, coming to stand beside her husband. Calais continued in probing the girl's chest, and after some time he closed his eyes.

Sarah could feel the magic in the air and a light emitted from the healer, the honey colour adding a glow to the girl's pale skin, swathed by her dark hair. For a moment, Sarah saw herself on the cot, dying, and a pain wrenched at her gut. As the pain left her, Calais pulled away and closed her nightgown. The girl made no movement and Sarah held her breath.

Suddenly, she gave a violent shake and a stream of water spurted out of her mouth. She coughed sporradically and Calais turned her onto her side as more water escaped from her lungs. Sarah exhaled finally and sighed in relief. She held faith that the universe brought her signs, and this girl and her sister were a sign for something yet to come; the death of the girl would bring no good omens. Sarah didn't even know her name; the name of her sister, however, loomed in the Queen's mind.

"How much time does she have?" Sarah asked her husband in Goblin, her eyes trained on the girl. She had heard the clock ticking, as she always did, but Sarah never really paid any attention to the amount of time left during the run.

"Seven minutes, precious."

Sarah nodded, deciding that with such little time left, she would explain her deal with the girl. Her mind swarmed with thoughts, and she could feel Jareth trying to calm her muddled head.

"Speak, precious." He commanded softly.

"I made a bargain with the girl. The rules still applied; if she won she would reclaim the baby and return to the Above." She paused, turning to look at her husband, whose eyes were wide in anticipation, the mismatched pupils even more haunting. "The girl will lose, and in place of the wished away, she will stay."

Jareth closed his eyes, and was silent for a couple moments. The seconds ticked along with the clock. Finally, he opened them, coming forward, and laid a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"What's said is said, my love."

Sarah silently thanked him and came near the girl and Calais.

"There is another mortal that I'd like you to look at, your grace." Sarah addressed him cautiously. He sighed and nodded. The Queen summoned the baby from her cot, the same electric shock radiating through her body strongly. She brought the small infant to Calais and he cocked an eyebrow. "She has lung problems, I need to know if they will directly affect her later on."

Calais hummed and took the baby. Sarah was surprised at his gentle manner with the child, as he was usually swift and clinical with most others. He had been the one to examine the Queen and bear the news of her infertility; she remembered the painful process with a sadness in her heart.

It did not take Calais long to surmise that the girl's lungs would heal in her early years and cause very little damage later in life.

"She will be perfectly fine, my Lady." Sarah inhaled sharply and nodded. Calais looked at the babe more carefully and Sarah though she could detect hints of a smile on the old man's face. "I can understand why she is a concern of yours, Lady. A child of your own namesake is always special." He had a knowing smile on his face and with those last words, he handed the baby back to the perplexed Queen, leaving the throne room. Sarah patted the baby's stomach and she smiled down at it.

"She even looks like you, my love." Jareth said, suddenly peering over her shoulder. "Though the eyes are not quite as cruel as they should be." Sarah chuckled and nodded.

"My eyes didn't take on their emerald hue until I was a teenager, silly."

The runner was still lying on the cot, silent as she watched the exchange. She seemed only half awake, as she was breathing deeply in order to gain some control back into her own lungs. Her dazed eyes looked at the Queen holding her sister, and she knew that she had lost.

"The bargain," she gasped. "Sarah..."

The older woman brought her head up to meet the eyes of the girl. The Queen nodded slowly and turned to her husband.

"Return her, for me, please." She asked, handing Jareth the child.

He pressed a kiss to her brow, and then disappeared. Sarah looked back at the runner and tried to convey her apologies.

The girl began to cry.

* * *

 

Hours after Jareth had returned the baby, Sarah was sitting in a new room she'd asked her own personal maid to make up for the runner. It did not seem right for Sarah to send the girl off to an adoptive family - she was well past the age where she could forget her experiences, and she did not know how the girl would react to other feys.

The girl in question was bathing in an adjacent room while Sarah found her some clothes, as her nightgown was torn from the run. Sarah's outfit from her own run lay in a sealed box in the depths of her wardrobe.

Sarah had tried to exchange words with the girl several times, but would only be met with somber looks and sniffles. The weight of her decision had finally come crashing down on her. Sarah could find no trance of regret, however, and so she let the girl mourn.

Sarah laid a soft day gown on the girl's bed and a pair of shoes for her to wear. They looked the right size, and Sarah could magically alter them if they did not. The door to the bathing chamber opened and the girl emerged, clad in only a towel. She looked positively vulnerable and Sarah walked toward her.

"You're not accustomed to the goblins yet, and so I thought you would be more comfortable if I helped you with your clothes. They're quite finicky." She told her, trying to keep her tone warm. The girl nodded and Sarah hesitated before continuing. "I do not know your name, child, and I doubt that you'd be at all pleased with me calling you 'girl.'"

"Diana." She responded, her hands clutching the towel to her tightly. Sarah smiled and came forward with the dress to help her.

She noticed shallow scrapes along her arms and back and could only think they were from the sharp rocks aligning the walls of the oubliette she drowned in. Sarah let the girl put her shift on before helping her into a soft green day dress that had belonged to the Queen long ago. After she'd finished with all the buttons she traced a light hand across the scabbed over cuts and Diana flinched under her touch.

"I'm sorry," Sarah responded softly, bringing her hand back. She led the trembling girl to the small vanity, where Sarah sat her down and began to brush out the tangles in her long, damp hair. The Queen, whose mortal ways gifted her with an adept skill for manual tasks, began to give the girl a loose crown braid. "When I was a girl, my mother would do this for me. She was an actress and always watched carefully when they did intricate hairstyles on her for movies and shows." Sarah smiled. "She was so glamorous."

"Mine is too, but she's taken a lot of time off for the baby." Diana said, staring blankly into her reflections. Her bottom lip quivered as Sarah secured the hair with jeweled pins. She was glad the girl was talking, although the sadness washed off her in waves.

"You and your sister are many years apart, my dear. My brother was only half my blood."

"I'm adopted," she said bluntly, and Sarah left it alone, the tone suggesting unsavoury things.

Sarah sighed, coming to sit on a chair beside the vanity. She looked upon the pale girl and smiled softly. "I find that I must apologize for the way we met; my occupation does not permit me any kindness."

Diana nodded and looked at the older woman, sitting so regal beside her in only a cotton dress. She expected her to be in her finery at all times, but it seemed the Queen was not one for dramatics. They sat in silence for several moments before Sarah spoke again. She looked at the girl with warm eyes, something she only reserved for the wished-aways.

"It will be hard at first, Diana, knowing that they have forgotten you." The girl closed her eyes, tears travelling down her high cheeks. "But it will not hurt forever. You're a very brave girl, braver than I ever was, and I hope that your life here will not be one filled with despair."

"Will I be the same? Will you not turn me into something unspeakable?" Sarah looked at the trembling girl, overwrought by the dread of the monarch's tale. "My mother used to tell me that once people were here, the Goblin King would torture them and turn them into monsters." She paused, covering her mouth with her hand as she sobbed. "I went in Sarah's place because she did not deserve any of this, but I no longer know what is true."

Sarah reached forward and took one of Diana's hands, squeezing it as the girl cried. She had shown barely any emotion since she became an inhabitant of the kingdom, and the Queen was glad that she was finally letting something out, albeit somewhat violently. She brought her free hand up to wipe Diana's tears.

"Why are you helping me?" The girl asked, stricken.

"Because, my dear, some days I cannot live with the monster I have become." Sarah responded softly, squeezing her hand again. She felt a summons from within her and sighed. "I must leave you, but I'll have someone bring you a meal."

Diana nodded as Sarah disappeared.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed the ending to the last chapter and moved it over to this one. Hope you like :)

"What is that, my love?" Sarah asked, appearing the King and Queen's chambers to find Jareth standing by the window, a crystal held in front of his face. He would not turn to look at her.

"A crystal, nothing more." He murmured. Sarah sighed at his theatrics. "I caught it as it was sent whirring through the Labyrinth. One of yours, I presume, my wife?"

Sarah froze. His icy tone suggested he was not pleased. She was amazed he had kept up the nonchalant act this long.

"Yes." He did not reply.

Finally, Jareth turned.

She said nothing, as it would only make matters worse.

"When you ran, you manipulated the rules by turning my citizens against me. That I can forgive, but this, cheating a game you are now a part of forever, with the magic that I taught you, that, precious, is inexcusable." Jareth seethed. "Magic always has a price Sarah. This crystal may have protected her from me, but it is the reason she almost died."

Sarah's voice died in her throat; she had not realized this.

"The Labyrinth is a living thing, Sarah, and if it meets opposition it will fight back. It can see time and it flooded that oubliette because it knew what you planned to do." He fumed and Sarah stood there. Her defiance was gone for the moment. She'd almost killed the girl - Diana. Her husband noticed this within her and sneered."How unusual it is that you have nothing to say." Sarah glared up at him.

"Do not mock me, Jareth, I am a child no longer and can understand what I have done." She said it softly, but her cruel defiance came back to her. Oftentimes, Sarah found her husband's cruel dictatorial ways exhausting, but as always, it did not stop him.

"However, like a child, you continue to disobey me day after day!"

"I am not yours to command!" Sarah exclaimed.

She took a step forward, her small size nothing compared the man in front of her, but her raw power obvious in the air around them. "You may be my King, but I am your wife. I am not a silly little girl who must do all your bidding. I am the Goblin Queen, and as you said, the Labyrinth is part of me, so I shall use it the way I like!" She paused, her breaths coming fast.

Jareth was stunned. In their entire marriage, Sarah had always followed the rules of the game, never had she used her status to change it - that was mostly Jareth's job, to toy with people and establish his claim on the kingdom. "I do not care if you are my King, you shall always be my husband first, and I will not let you treat me like a slave."

With that, she chose to exit by flinging open their bedroom door so that its hinges almost snapped, her skirts billowing out behind her as she moved.

* * *

 

During the first month that Diana spent in the Goblin Kingdom, she'd slowly become less anxious around the monarchs, although still flinching if Jareth's tone was too harsh. Diana became Sarah's companion, often helping look after the wished-aways. She'd gone throught bouts of sadness and somedays she was not able to exit her room out of fear of the new world she lived in and Sarah understood. Her first taste of the Underground had been brought up time and again during the years she spent there, and in the beginning she found herself repeating that she loved the realm day after day, never wanting Jareth to think she regretted her decision. Sarah knew now that she did not, and she hoped Diana would come to the same conclusion.

On one particular afternoon, the sunless sky was a hazy pink and the stones of the labyrinth glistened, the throne room's many windows giving a superb view of their beauty. Sarah sat on the throne with Jareth, his arm around her waist, lovingly rubbing the curve of her flat stomach. He tried as often as he could to soothe the woman he loved, even if no sadness shone through her cruel eyes. Jareth kissed her shoulder and whispered a Goblin endearment in her ear, causing her to chuckle. The couple often spent their days like this, as the throne room was the center of the castle and it was easier for them to spend their time there than anywhere else, as many a goblin or castle hand came running each hour.

It had seemed that time had healed the wounds caused by Diana's run, and they appeared to be the happiest couple in the realm, at least what Diana could see from her perch on a balcony above the two monarchs. She often heard them speaking softly to each other as she passed the throne room each day, when she would take walks if she found the will to rise. Both rulers had seemed so ferocious upon first meeting them, and it had taken some time for the girl to begin to trust either of them. Jareth still made her feel uncomfortable, but that was his way, and so she brushed it off. She liked Sarah, albeit Diana was a bit wary of the Queen. While she had been nothing but kind, Diana had not failed to notice the fascination Sarah had looked on her sister of the same name, or even as to why she allowed Diana to trade places in the first place. Linda, her adoptive mother, had always said that the Goblin King showed no mercy. She had spoken true in her bedroom when she had thought Sarah, the Champion, would be different, but obviously time weathered her.

Diana looked closely at the Queen, taking in her porcelain skin and green eyes, flanked by her thick, waist-length, dark chestnut hair. She reminded Diana of her mother in some lights, and it caught her by surprise often. She thought nothing of it, however, as the Queen was most likely centuries old and had no relation to Linda Williams, despite being mortal by birth.

Diana thought often of her infant sister, who would grow up and never know who she was. She pondered these thoughts as she wandered back into the hall, descending stairs until she was at the entrance of the throne room, staring toward where the pair on the throne looked at each other lovingly in silence.

Without turning his head, Jareth addressed the visitor.

"How is my kingdom treating you, my dear?" He asked, continuing to refer to her as anything but her name. "I hope no goblins have caused any upset; they do love a newcomer." He turned his head, smirking. Sarah gave a small smile toward Diana.

The goblins did have a tendency to pester her, but it was in an endearing way, and so Diana wasn’t bothered by it. They had a habit of spooking her, however. 

"It's been just fine, thank you."

"I'm glad. Did you need something?"

“ _Jareth,_ " Sarah hissed, chastising him like a child.

"It is but a simple question, precious," he said in his arrogant tone.

"I only meant to ask my Lady if there was any way I could check on my sister." Diana, having been in the Under for a month, had picked up their traditional way of addressing each other, and the different titles she was supposed to use had become familiar to her now. Sarah oftened called her by her given name, while Jareth used pet names, which Diana found made her skin crawl. The goblins had a peculiar way of calling her 'Little Queenie,' and the few fey she'd come in contact with stuck with 'lady.' "I only want to see if she alright after her time here, please."

"Of course," the Queen agreed quietly. She beckoned Diana come forward, and conjured a crystal into her hand. For a moment she looked into the orb, turning it to the side as she did. Her brow furrowed as she looked at the image of the baby with her name. Diana tried to see what was happening, but it was obscured by the Queen's hand.

"Sarah?" Jareth asked in anticipation.

Suddenly, realization dawned on her and the crystal dropped from her hand.

"Oh my god," the Goblin Queen gasped, clutching her chest as she looked at her husband and then back at Diana, the crystal forgotten.

"What, precious?" Jareth wrapped a hand around her shoulder, a worried expression passing over his face.

Sarah looked sharply to Diana. "You said your mother was an actress. What was your mother's name?" The girl seemed frightened and confused by the Queen's actions.

"After she remarried, she was Linda Williams."

Sarah fainted before she could respond, and as Jareth attended to his wife, Diana walked over to the orb, picking it up and staring into the image of her mother and sister. 

Diana suddenly understood why Sarah looked so much like her mother.

* * *

She appeared on the old Victorian's doorstep, her now abnormal heart racing in her chest. Clothed in mortal dress, Sarah felt out of place and yet completely comfortable all at the same time. She had not seen her family for centuries and her mind was alive with endless thoughts. Sarah knew she should knock, and raised a hand to do so. She wondered how long it had been for them - time was a very finicky thing for the Underground - and did not know if she would still hear Merlin barking in the garage or Toby crying in his crib. The Aboveground world overwhelmed her.

Sarah knocked on the hard wooden door and waited for what seemed like multitudes until she heard the click of locks being opened.

As the door pulled back from its frame, a head of curly blonde hair appeared. Pale teal eyes stared at the Queen through the space in the door, wide as saucers. The Goblin Queen recognized the face despite all the years and her eyes filled with tears.

"Sarah?" The teenage boy said and she let out a sob, nodding rapidly. She didn't care that he shouldn't remember her, she just stood there, clutching her chest as she sobbed. Toby flung the door open and reached out to his older sister, taking her in his arms.

The past sixteen years had been kind to Sarah's brother, making him a full head taller than her, which added another item to the list of things he shared with Jareth.

She wrapped her arms around the tall boy and cried, overcome with emotion after all the time she had spent worrying and wondering about him. He squeezed her tight and laughed jovially, holding onto his sister with all of his strength. Toby had imagined the day many times, and it was unlike any scenario he could create.

"How do you know who I am?" She asked against his chest. To Toby, the fey he knew to be his sister didn't look a day over twenty and he marveled at the idea. Sarah pulled back, looking up at her younger brother, now seventeen. "You shouldn't know me, Toby, it isn't possible." She gripped his forearms, still standing on the porch.

"Well, geez Sarah, you sure sound happy to see me." He paused, thinking deeply. "By all means I shouldn't know who you are; all the pictures of you faded, your room is gone, and according to the United States government, Sarah Williams does not exist. Believe me, I've done my research." Hearing her last name coupled with her first was strange to Sarah's ears. She was used to her title, never her surname. "On the subject of how I remember you, Jareth visits me, in my dreams, and sometimes in person."

“ _What_?" Jareth had made no mention of any visitations, he had let her believe that Toby was gone from them. "Why?"

"I don't know if I can tell you, Sarah. It started happening when I was eight and he has been coming and going since then." He looked apologetic and she shook her head, patting his shoulder as a way to tell him it was alright. She felt so ancient next to him, centuries old while he was so young. "Come on in though. You might have to do some convincing to get dad to believe you though." He was sad for a moment. "Mom's gone though, there was an accident when I was seven.” He paused thoughtfully. "I think that was the reason Jareth started visiting me, actually." Sarah squeezed his forearm.

"I'm sorry." She looked at him deeply before continuing. "Lead the way."

Her old house had not changed much since her departure, although the pictures on the wall that had once been of her were replaced by a succession of a smiling Toby throughout the years. She looked closely, marking the uncanny likeness to her husband. His eyes were even slightly different colours as well and she shook her head at the thought. It was all set in stone once Jareth proclaimed Toby as his heir, and not even Sarah could change fate. She’d come to realize that fate was a funny thing.

Toby led her through the front hall to what used to be Karen's pristine sitting room. Now the bright, claw footed couches had been replaced by soft leather ones, where she saw her father sitting with his paper. His once light brown hair had darkened, strands of gray dispersed within it; he still smoked from the same pipe and sipped from the same coffee mug. Robert noticed the presence in the room and looked up, confused at the young woman in his living room.

"Toby, who is this?" He asked, setting down both pipe and paper. "I didn't hear the door."

"Dad, this is Sarah, and she'd like to speak to you." Robert Williams was still thoroughly frazzled as Sarah sat in a chair across from him, Toby opting to sit on the couch's arm.

"Hello, Robert," she addressed him formally. "My name is Sarah Williams, and I'd like to show you something." He did not respond, and so she brought her hand up and conjured a crystal. Inside held the truth that had been taken from the Above when she left. "It may cause you some shock."

"What is that, Miss Williams?" He looked slightly afraid, but his son seemed enraptured by the Goblin Queen in front of him. Toby could see the change that had been made within his sister and it was fascinating to the mortal teenager.

"A crystal, nothing more. I'd like you to have it." Sarah reached forward, beckoning for her father to take the orb from her delicate hand. He hesitated before closing his hand around it. "If you look at it a certain way, Robert, it will show you your dreams. Go ahead."

The man cocked an eyebrow but did as he was told. Incased in the glass sphere were the memories he'd lost, and Sarah saw the small amount of light that passed into his fingertips and behind his eyes as he touched it. Robert gripped the crystal tightly as the memories came back to him, the other hand supporting himself on the arm of the couch. Sarah looked at Toby and gave the mesmerized boy a smile. When the rush of memories subsided, Robert gaped at Sarah, at his daughter.

"I don't understand..."

"Do you remember the red book that Jeremy gave to me?" Robert nodded as Sarah began to explain. "It held the story of the Goblin King and his labyrinth." Looking at Toby, Sarah felt a pang in her gut. "Sixteen years ago, I wished Toby away to the goblins, and then to get him back I ran the labyrinth in eleven hours." _But what no one had known was that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl…_ "I won, and Toby was returned safely home."

"Then why did you disappear? I know the story, I know that the girl is supposed to go home." Her father looked slightly pale as he wondered these things.

"The Goblin King asked me to marry him, in a manner of speaking." Sarah laughed internally as her father's face went through a series of emotions. "I told him yes, and the Aboveground forgot me."

She paused, giving her father enough time recooperate, glancing over at Toby who looked deep in thought. She stared at her brother, his curly platinum framing his face, the pale and darker blue of his discoloured eyes striking against his tanned skin. He seemed to have inherited their father’s tanned complection, while Sarah's ivory skin came from her mother. His eyes were Karen's, although bewitched by the labyrinth's doing, no doubt. He would make a beautiful king, she thought. Jareth naming Toby their heir all those years ago still held validity, as there were many goblin witnesses that still tell tales of the babe in his striped pajamas, bouncing on Jareth's lap gaily. It still stabbed at Sarah that her own children could never sit on the throne, but she favoured the idea of Toby rather than a distant relative of Jareth's from a warring kingdom, or worse, a Court puppet from Avalon. She would not allow them to rip apart her kingdom.

Sarah was brought out of her own musings by a pained squeak from her father.

"You married him at _fifteen_?" Robert asked incredulously.

"Technically, yes, I did, although we waited a century and I am much older than fifteen now and not even human, and so I doubt it matters, dad. I love my husband dearly, and he treats me well." Sarah assuaded his anger by changing the topic. "The reason that I am here, however, is not to reunite after all these years, unfortunately. I am here to talk on the matters of my birth, and those before my birth.” Sarah sat back, folding her hands in her lap. "I run the process of collecting the children who are wished away to the goblins, and the most recent run has proved to change the way I view my life, the life I thought I knew."

"I don't know what you mean," he replied, looking nervous for what she would say.

Sarah pulled a photo from her pocket, one she had a goblin retrieve from the junkyard for her, and handed it over to her father; a photo of Diana.

"This girl ran my labyrinth. Her name is Diana." The same events that happened with the crystal repeated themself when Robert was handed the photo. She inhaled deeply. "I know that you are not my biological father, I know that Linda had me before you met her, and that she also had another daughter that she adopted." Sarah felt her throat clenching up as she said all these things to her father.

"These were all things I meant to tell you when you were eighteen, Sarah, but I forgot about Diana, and I assume that the reason you are here is why." Robert caught on fast, and Sarah was glad for it. Toby, however, seemed perturbed. "Your mother, when she was very young, was invested in charity cases, and her biggest one was Diana. How she managed to adopt her so easily, I do not know, but all I knew was that she had a horrible early childhood."

"Wait," Toby interjected. "Sarah isn't my real sister?" He looked so lost and Sarah's heart stopped for a moment.

"Biologically, son, no. But I have raised her since she was an infant and so in every sense of family, she is. She will always be my daughter no matter where she comes from." Robert said, looking warmly at Sarah. "Now, on the account of this husband of yours, when do I get to meet him?"

Sarah sucked in a breath at the idea of Jareth meeting her father. No doubt he would be his arrogant self and piss the pants off of Robert, which would cause Sarah grief in the long run. She assumed it was fair, though, seeing as she had robbed her father the rite of walking her down the aisle. She still remembered her wedding, it was after her transformation, and she had been swathed in the most beautiful concoction of white silk; nothing like the monstrosity that had been her crystal ballroom gown.

"Am I on time then, precious?" A velvety voice broke her train of thought and Sarah groaned, turning slightly to see her husband in mundane clothing, standing at the end of the front hall.

"Impeccable timing as always, Jareth," she replied somewhat begrudgingly. Her father looked concerned at her reaction. "Dad, this is Jareth, the Goblin King, sometimes I call him my husband; Jareth, Robert Williams, mine and Toby's father." Sarah paused and continued rather icily. "You of course know Toby, as he has informed me you two have regular visits."

The two men shook hands and Jareth clapped Toby on the back. The teen smiled at his godfather of sorts, obviously happy to see him again. Jareth came forward and kissed Sarah's brow, smirking in the way that he does, and sat in the chair adjacent to her. How like a king, she noticed, coming in and swooping upon a household like he owned it.

"So, Jareth, my understanding is that you asked my daughter to marry you because she kicked your ass." Sarah let out a strangled noise, and he raised an eyebrow at the pair. "Am I not wrong?"

"More or less, that is the way it goes. Sarah bested my labyrinth, and like the story says, I had fallen in love with her." He reached over and began to play with a strand of Sarah's long locks. Sarah rolled her eyes at her husband. "She helps me run the labyrinth, for which I am eternally grateful, and the goblins adore her. What more can I ask for?"

"Indeed." Robert pursed his lips, folding his hands on his lap. "Can I expect any grandchildren in the forseeable future?"

Sarah sucked in a breath and Jareth rubbed her back, soothing her. Tears pooled in her eyes, as she never thought she would have to bear this news to her father. She imagined visions of light haired children curled up with him on Christmas day, blowing out birthday candles; regular mortal things. Sarah's imaginary children would never have these.

"Unfortunately, dad, I can't have children." His face fell for a moment, but then a warm look passed over his face.

"Well, I've always got Toby for that, then don't I?”

Sarah let out a watery chuckle and smiled. 

 


End file.
